The Season of Sam

First thing's first: This is my 750th post! Yay me!

Second thing's second: Rafa's decision to skip Barcelona? Smartest thing he could have possibly done.

Third thing's third: Sam Stosur is made of awesome.

It kind of slipped under the radar in Australian tennis this week, mostly because a new president has been elected for Tennis Australia and there's a little bit of controversy there, but Sam Stosur won her second career title in Charleston. This puts her back in the top ten and, if she can keep up her results through the clay court season and accumulate some solid points, I think she's going to be a fixture there - even if she loses some of the points she made by reaching the semis of Roland Garros last year.

Stosur's game is, as I talked about a few days earlier, great on clay. Her kick serve goes from being awesome to practically untouchable, and she's proved this week she has the mental strength you need for the clay court season. She demolished some truly excellent players this week - not least of whom was Vera Zvonareva, who pulverised a racquet so spectacularly it actually shattered.

I'm excited for Stosur and her prospects on clay this season. Because I have an inkling that this season is going to be the Season of Sam.

Sam Slams It In Charleston

I hear there is tennis going on in the world that is not in Monte Carlo and does not involve anyone named Rafa or Nole or Daveeeeeeeeeed. You might have heard of it, though I really don't give it as much screen time as I ought. It's called 'women's tennis'.

In all the excitement of Rafa on clay and Murray failing miserably, I just about forgot the ladies existed this week. And this meant that - as she is often wont to do when no one is watching - Sam Stosur is through to the semis in Charleston.

It's very popular to go on and on and on about how Australian tennis players are rubbish on clay, but I don't think the sitch is as dire as it is often made out to be. Our #2 dude, Peter Luczak, is essentially a claycourt specialist, and Sam Stosur? Well, there was that whole bit where she made the semis at Roland Garros last year. And oh look, here we are in Charleston on the red stuff, and Slammin' Sammy has slammed her way into the semis again.

I think a lot of Sam's weapons, particularly her serve, are accentuated on clay. It's not un-Rafalike, the monstrous kick she can get on her kick serve when she serves it right on the clay. And that serve is hard enough to play at the best of times.

I would not be at all surprised if Sam went on to win this tournament - though I'm not going to go and predict it or anything, because we all know Sam does her best work when no one's looking. She looked great in her quarter final match against Shuai Peng and I'm really excited to see how Sam slams it this year on the clay.

Potential

Looks like I won't be eating my couch - as predicted, Rafa Nadal took out Novak Djokovic, though Djokovic gave him a tougher time than I would have expected. As usual, I didn't see the match - stupid crappy television in Australia and stupid Canberra not being a metropolitan area - but it looks like Djokovic gave Rafa a bit of a tougher time than I would have expected. Or maybe he just played out of his skin for a set. Or maybe Shmafa turned up. Who can tell these things?

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This is insane. We talk about the pressure people put on Federer (which is also insane) - but how about the pressure people put on Nadal, especially on clay? He loses one set and I'm all like, 'oh no! what happened?' and I bet I'm not the only one. Is Nadal too going to become the victim of his own successes one day, when his knees give on him or he loses a bit of an edge and he starts to come back to the field one day? People have started to talk about the unrealised potential of Federer (personally, I think thirteen Grand Slam titles and four years of domination is a pretty decent realisation, but whatever) - will we one day talk about Nadal the same way?

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I guess that one we'll only ever get the answer to in time.

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Though speaking of potential, one girl brimming with it is Sabine Lisicki, and I am claiming a big Star victory here - she is the first of my female Stars to win a title! This allows her to join Marin Cilic in the exclusive Stars-who-have-won-titles club... yeah, I know it sounds lame, but I'm proud. I picked her out when she was a wee slip of a thing (she first caught my notice when I saw her beat Dinara Safina in the first round of the Australian Open in 2008) and now she's all winning a title. She beat Caroline Wozniacki pretty comprehensively in Charleston... and that isn't just some tiny schlep tournament either. I'm not sure how the new system of tournament rankings works for the women, but I'm pretty sure it was Tier II in the old system, and that is a pretty massive victory for someone winning their first title!

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Our last weekend winner was Roberta Vinci, whom I have only seen play once and so about whom I can make little comment... other than this. She was quite flamboyant but nothing extraordinary when I saw her play. She was unseeded, her opponent in the final, Maria Kirilenko, was the #6 seed. In fact, this holds in Charleston as well - Lisicki was the #16 seed, Wozniacki the #5 seed. The top seeds are not coming through in the WTA. They're just not winning any more. And yet they're at the top of the rankings. What does it take to dislodge a member of the top ten who is not performing?

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 2-6 6-1

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2 6-4

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Roberta Vinci def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-0 6-4

As Good As It Gets... In The WTA

Well, well, well... she's my only Star still in it this week and she's kind of been flying under the radar a bit, but how 'bout that Sabine Lisicki? I am very impressed indeed!

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She just took out Marion Bartoli, the #6 seed, to reach the final in Charleston, where she'll face teen queen Caroline Wozniacki (who, incidentally, was very impressive in her takedown of top seed Elena Dementieva.) This is, unless I am very much mistaken, her first WTA-level final, and I would love, love, love for her to win it. She's got so much promise and talent and just - sass. I think that was why I originally liked her so much when I saw her at the Hopman Cup - she's got so much personality as a player. I'm pretty much over-the-moon - as much as one can be with the WTA in its current state - about her making this final.

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Actually, it's a pretty ideal set up, this final. You have Lisicki, who is a youngster brimming with promise who should make the top twenty sometime within the next year or so by my reckoning, and Wozniacki, who is one of those poised to take over now that the WTA is in its current state of demise. These two are not the type that are making the WTA so frickin' annoying at the moment. These are two of the ones that are making it worthwhile. So... yeah. Go Sabine. Go Caroline. It'll be a good one.

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We have a Rafa/Djokovic final over in Monte Carlo. Rafa took out Murray with reasonable ease (kudos to Murray, though, for making it that deep on his least favourite surface) and Djokovic had a bit more of a struggle against Stan W, but came through in the end. I'm not even going to bother tipping the final, it is so obvious who will win.

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Rafael Nadal def. Andy Murray, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Novak Djokovic def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 4-6 6-1 6-3

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Elena Dementieva, 6-4 5-7 7-5

Sabine Lisicki def. Marion Bartoli, 6-3 6-1

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 4-6 6-1 6-2

Roberta Vinci def. Francesca Schiavone, 0-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Tatjana Malek, 6-4 6-0

Maria Kirilenko def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 6-1 3-6 6-0